44 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. 



EUPLEXOPTERA. 



The members of this order, commonly called " earwigs," are 

 recognized by their slender, flattened bodies, legs of nearly equal 

 size, and abdomen terminating with a pair of forceps-like ap- 

 pendages. 



Head prominent, flattened, and wider than the thorax, with 

 mouth-parts in front. Thorax small. Tegmina or wing covers 

 meeting in a straight line down the back and covering only part 

 of the abdomen; leathery in texture and without veins. Wings 

 large in proportion to the size of the insect; folded lengthwise 

 like a fan and then again crosswise, and thus concealed under 

 the comparatively small wing covers. It is stated that the in- 

 sects use the above-mentioned forceps in tucking the wings under 

 the covers. The tegmina and wings are both absent in one of 

 our species. The metamorphosis is incomplete. 



These insects are much more plentiful in Europe, where they 

 received the name "earwig" from a foolish superstition that 

 they sometimes get into people's ears and injure them. Ear- 

 wigs are not common in Connecticut, and are seldom seen, 

 as they live in cracks and crannies, beneath stones, bark of 

 stumps, etc., coming out only at night. They are largely vege- 

 table feeders, but eat dead insects and small sluggish forms of 

 animal life. The order includes only a single family. 



FORFICULIML 



The members of this family will be recognized by the above 

 description. Two species belonging to different genera have 

 been taken in Connecticut. Other members of this family will 

 probably be found when carefully looked for. A third genus, 

 which should be represented in this state, is added to the follow- 

 ing key. 



Key to Genera. 



1. Tegmina and wings present 2 



Tegmina and wings both absent Anisolabis p. 45 



2. Joints of antennae cylindrical, more than four times as 



long as broad. Second tarsal joint broadened at 

 apex, bilobed, and produced beneath the third 



Forficula p. 45 



